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1. Ryan Truex and Alex Bowman to Drive For BK Racing; Good or Bad Move?
A piece of expected, but surprising news came out during the week. BK Racing announced that Ryan Truex and Alex Bowman would take over for the team in 2014. If you recall, David Reutimann and Travis Kvapil drove for the team in 2013, but they will not be behind the wheel in 2014. Also, Alex Bowman drove for the RAB Racing team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series last year before making this move. Ryan Truex, who is Martin Truex Jr.'s younger brother, is most notable for almost winning the 2012 Nationwide Series race at Dover along with running a few Cup races last season. I stand kind of in the middle on this decision. For one, both of these guys can drive the wheels off a race car. Bowman drove extremely well with a middle of the road Nationwide team last year and Ryan Truex has won a good many races along with running well in limited experience in NASCAR's three highest series. It just seems like they have a knack for driving a car, but here is my problem with them both jumping into NASCAR's highest series. Neither one of them have a ton of experience in NASCAR's lower series. I preached rather recently that I wanted to see drivers run full seasons in NASCAR's lower series before making the jump to Cup. Yes, Bowman has a full season of NASCAR Nationwide Series experience, but it still isn't enough for me. Truex hasn't run a full season and I just haven't seen enough from him even though, in the limited stuff I have seen, he is fairly good. Plus, they have to drive for BK Racing, which isn't exactly high quality Cup equipment. I just don't want to see Truex and Bowman flame out because they didn't have the perfect car at the right time. Hopefully, BK Racing picks up their act and the two turn out great rookie seasons in NASCAR.
2. Brad Keselowski Picks Up Two Sponsors; Will This Help Keselowski in 2014?
A great piece of sponsorship news came out for Brad Keselowski and Team Penske this week. Penske announced that Wurth and Alliance Truck Parts would run a few races as sponsor for the number two of Brad Keselowski in 2014. If you recall, Alliance and Wurth sponsored Sam Hornish Jr. in the NASCAR Nationwide Series the past two seasons, but he has moved on from the Penske ride. This opened up the door for the sponsors and they will now sponsor Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion. This is really great news for Keselowski. He absolutely struggled last year in missing the Chase. This was after he completely took hold of the sport with his title run in 2012. With these two new sponsors, Keselowski and the team have a little bit more money flow and this year could turn out well with at least three main sponsors on the car. Also, this move also gives the sport a little more publicity if you ask me. Keselowski is a notable driver, I would say, and a few advertisements with him on it could change the image of the sport a little bit. Hopefully, these two new sponsors will help Team Penske and Brad Keselowski make a title run in 2014.
3. Phoenix Racing Announces Justin Allgaier as 2014 Driver; Is He a Legitimate Contender For Rookie of the Year?
A piece of expected news came out during the week. Phoenix Racing announced that Justin Allgaier would drive the number 51 in his rookie campaign in 2014. If you recall, Allgaier has been driving the number 31 for Turner Scott Motorsports the past few years in the Nationwide Series and he made some Cup starts last year for the Phoenix Racing team. I believe this a very good move for the Phoenix Racing team. For one, they get a great driver like Justin Allgaier to pilot their car. He has proven he has the abilities in the Nationwide Series and I believe he could make some waves this year. My only problem with Allgaier taking this ride is the fact that it isn't the greatest ride out there on track. No, it isn't a terrible start and park ride in the Cup Series, but it also isn't Hendrick Motorsports power. All I'm saying is I would rather see him in a very high quality ride because I don't want to see him flame out as a driver. It seems like that happens way too much in today's NASCAR, but I want to see those guys who don't seem to be known well make it great in NASCAR. I think Allgaier could be one of those guys who comes out of the shadows to be a great Cup driver. Hopefully, we see Justin Allgaier succeed in NASCAR this year and in the future.
4. NASCAR Reinstates Ty Norris; Smart or Not?
NASCAR made a splash with a rather surprising piece of news this week for one of a team's high ranking personnel. Ty Norris, who is the vice president of Michael Waltrip Racing, was reinstated by the sport. If you recall, Norris was suspended indefinitely after his role in the Chase scandal around MWR after the team attempted to manufacture the end of the race. They hoped to get Martin Truex Jr. in the Chase and they did, but he was taken out after Clint Bowyer's spin and Brian Vickers pitting on the final restart looked to be very suspicious. This, to me, is something NASCAR really shouldn't have done. Honestly, what happened at Richmond wasn't really as bad as we see it. Yes, it was cheating and it makes the sport look bad in the public eyes, but it isn't something we aren't unfamiliar with. We have seen it before in the sport and it wasn't really brought out too much. Still, this was something totally different in terms of manufacturing how the championship could work out. That is why I don't see why NASCAR reinstated him. Norris could have completely changed how the championship came to a close and that is really wrong and doesn't deserve a reinstatement into the sport. Hopefully, Norris has learned his lesson from this situation and he will lead his team just the way he did before the whole scandal.
5. NASCAR Announces New Qualifying Format; Is It Good or Doomed to Fail?
NASCAR made one of the biggest announcements of the offseason this week. NASCAR announced the brand new qualifying format for all three of its highest divisions. The qualifying is set up like this. At tracks larger than 1.25 miles, qualifying will consist of three rounds. The first round has all drivers run a twenty five minute session. The twenty four fastest will move on while the rest of the order is set based on provisionals. A ten minute session for the twenty four fastest will lead to twelve left. These twelve will have five minutes and the pole position will go to the fastest driver in this session. At tracks less than 1.25 miles, the format will consist of two sessions. The first session will have all cars and trucks run thirty minutes. After this session, the top twelve will move on while the back of the field will be based on provisionals. After a ten minute session, the fastest driver out of the twelve will take the pole position. If you need anymore information on qualifying, just visit NASCAR.com to find all the info. I feel this is a great move for NASCAR, honestly. I mean, qualifying does get occasionally boring with single cars run, but this will be a race within itself. No, cars won't be fighting for the win, but just the pole. Still, there could be a good bit of battling and I welcome that in the sport. Plus, could you imagine someone chasing someone else down because they wrecked in qualifying? I really don't want to condone wrecking in qualifying, but that would be amazing to see. I hope this session works very well for NASCAR and the excitement continues to pick up, which I'm sure it will.
With that, week #10 of the 2013 NASCAR offseason has come to a close. It was a very simple week in terms of news, but that last piece was definitely something very big for the sport. Qualifying is a key part of a weekend and it shapes how the race will turn out. I am glad NASCAR made some changes to it to make sure it is a key part of the weekend, but also a exciting part. I thank you guys once again for reading through my thoughts. If you have any questions about the issues at hand, let me know in the comments down below. I was planning at least one story about the Rolex 24 at Daytona for this year, but FOX kind of messed me up. In my area, they showed the start on tape delay and I was planning on doing a story live, but that is how things go. I hope to do something Tudor United Sportscar Championship related during the year so stay tuned. I hope to have the NASCAR Season Recap up tonight, but if I don't, I will most likely have it up tomorrow night. I thank you guys for being patient with that and I hope you enjoy it. Well, that is it for me and until we meet again.
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